Youth group Olympics
10 minutes
For the second round of youth group Olympics, play a round of balloon shot put. Set up the playing area with markers for realistic distances and give each of the young people three goes at throwing the balloon, shot put-style. Add your scores to the running total. As this is a fairly short game, you may also want to play a few rounds of waiter relay, where, in teams, young people have to hold a balloon on a tray without dropping it (see Premier Youthwork games column from October 2016 for more details).
Recap
5 minutes
Ask a few of your group to share what they remember from last week. Explain that you exploring what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Remind them that we are all called to be disciples, not simply believers. As a quick illustration, hand around some coins. Ask them to hold the coin in their hands, and to imagine that they needed to keep holding the coin throughout the whole session. Then ask them to imagine that they had to hold the coin for the rest of the day, or even the rest of the week. What would be difficult? What couldn’t they do? How would life have to change around their holding of this coin? Now ask them to imagine that this coin represents their commitment to Jesus, and the holding onto this commitment in their lives. What needs to change around their commitment to Jesus? This is the cost of discipleship.
The Sermon on the Mount
5 minutes
Say: Last week we explored the call and cost of discipleship, and how being a disciple means that we are beginning an adventure which will transform our lives. Today we’ll look at the Sermon on the Mount, one of the longest bits of Jesus’ teaching in any of the Gospels. It’s one of the few times (recorded in the Bible) when Jesus sits down with his disciples and really explains what it means to follow him.
The Beatitudes
5 minutes
Read Matthew 5:1-16. Say: the Beatitudes, are a sort of poem which Jesus begins his teaching with. Beatitude means ‘supreme blessedness’, so Jesus is essentially explaining how to live a blessed life. It’s a surprising list of qualities.
Hand out paper and pens. Explain that you are going to read the Beatitudes again slowly, and that each time you read a phrase, such as, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” you want the young people to attempt to draw a stick figure to represent what they think is meant by the phrase. At the end of the activity they should have eight little figures drawn on a piece of paper. Once you have read the Beatitudes and the young people have drawn their pictures, ask them to feed back: did they find the activity hard? Did they know what the words meant?
Dictionary time
10 minutes
Ask which of the phrases they don’t understand. Divide into groups, and give each group a phrase or two to research. Invite them to Google what might be meant by the phrases or words in the passage. Here are some ideas in case you get stuck:
Meekness: this has been defined in several ways - righteous, humble, teachable, patient under suffering, longsuffering, willing to follow gospel teachings.
Poor in spirit: some commentators believe that there is a special kind of spiritual poverty that we should seek. When we come to God, realising our own sin, our spiritual emptiness and poverty, we will be aware of our great need for God.
Mourn: “Jesus praises … those who can enter into solidarity with the pain of the world and not try to extract themselves from it.” Jesus’ Plan for a new world by Richard Rohr and John Bookser Feister.
Pure in heart: “Indeed, what would one search for when one has God before one’s eyes?
Or what would satisfy one who would not be satisfied with God? We strive to see God. We are on fire with the desire of seeing God.” St Augustine sermon.
Hunger and thirst for righteousness: “The first four beatitudes describe the broken, grieving, quiet person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. And the next four describe the merciful, pure peacemaker who gets persecuted for his righteousness. If we were hungering for righteousness in verse six because we were empty, and then we get persecuted for righteousness in verse ten because we’ve been filled, isn’t it proper to define righteousness as that with which we have been filled—namely, mercy, purity, and peacemaking?” John Piper, Desiringgod.org.
Modern Beatitudes
10 minutes
Invite the young people to write their own version of the Beatitudes, using their own language.
Light of the world
5 minutes
Read verses 13-16 again to remind the young people of this part of the passage. Ask: what does it mean to shine brightly?
Spotlight: Social media
5 minutes
How can we shine brightly in our lives? One place where our lives are very visible to others is through our social media profiles. What does your Facebook page say about you? If someone was to scroll through your Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, would they know you are a follower of Jesus? We are not suggesting that you should post lots of Bible verses or share random Christian content (which may be more alienating than inviting for some people). But how can we shine brightly in the digital realm?
Shining brightly
5 minutes
Light some candles in the middle of the room. Spend a moment in quiet, watching the candles. Re-read verses 13-16. Say: in the Beatitudes Jesus outlines what it looks like to live a blessed life: its very different to what the world understands as a blessed and fulfilled life. But it is a life that goes against the grain of the world, and says something about who Jesus was and is, boldly and brightly. Pray to close.
